LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Whether it is wearable sensors, artificial intelligence or a new app that fosters creativity, improves productivity and instills happiness and health, the 11^th annual competition hosted by the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Body Computing (CBC) asks entrants to envision the modern workplace as a hub of health data collection.

Designed to help transform health behavior for the better, the “Connected Health in the Workplace” SLAM competition focuses on the time spent on work and how to maximize location for the best life possible. With attention paid to both mental and physical health improvements, designers, coders and innovators from around the globe can submit entries in all formats – slides, video, app frame shot. The criteria is to create, design and develop a connected workplace solution for the future that improves health, medical care, content delivery and healthcare outcomes.

Entries must be submitted online at usccbc@gmail.com before the deadline on September 9, 2017 at 5:00pm PST. The top five entries will be invited to “SLAM” and present their ideas in Los Angeles on September 21 before four judges from the USC CBC, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, USC Annenberg School of Communication and USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The winning team will present their entry the following day at the 11^th Annual Center for Body Computing Conference held at USC.

“With more than 153 million Americans employed – just about half of the country – we need to find ways to make digital health tools part of our work lives for healthier bodies and minds,” said Leslie Saxon, MD, cardiologist at Keck Medicine of USC and executive director of the USC Center for Body Computing who created the annual SLAM competition and will serve as one of the judges. “Companies like IBM have the right idea – they gave all their employees a wearable device to track healthy behavior and encouraged activities such as walking meetings. Now that we have the tools in our everyday lives such as wearable sensors and artificial intelligence, we can gather exabytes of health information and help inform employees how to improve their health and wellness not just during off-hours or at home but while on the job.”

“The Internet of Things is revolutionizing many aspects of our work and lives by weaving into them a fabric of sensors that will make visible what was previously invisible, and provide meaningful data that can be learned from and acted upon,” said Bhaskar Krishnamachari, director of the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things at USC Viterbi School of Engineering and another SLAM judge. “I’m excited and eager to see what innovative visions and insights the participants of this year’s body SLAM competition will come up with, at the intersection of health and the workplace.”

The annual USC Body Computing competition encourages multidisciplinary teams exemplified by past winners. In 2016, the winning team from Embodied Labs in Chicago created “I Am Alfred,” a virtual reality (VR) app immersing the viewer into the world of age-related macular degeneration created by a team consisting of a medical illustrator in biomedical visualization, a medical education partner, a creative director with a theater and film background and a VR program developer. Another past winner was Los Angeles-based SingFit, a musical therapy app for those with dementia created by a certified music therapist, a business entrepreneur in technology and media and an app programmer.

“The submissions in our annual competition always amaze me as to what dedicated, innovative, cross-disciplinary teams can do in a compressed time window,” added Saxon. “It just shows that the American entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in digital health and these tools are quickly becoming a big factor in the successful outcomes of our overall national health picture.”

The 11^th annual USC Center for Body Computing Conference is an annual gathering of more than 300 digital health thought leaders.  The one-day summit offers a 360-degree perspective on the evolving convergence of health and technology with past speakers from the FDA, IBM Watson, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, NBA, Nokia Technologies, IEEE Standards Association, U.S. Department of Defense, Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), VSP Global, ESPN, NBA, NFL and Walgreen’s who join key digital health start-ups, venture capitalists, media, experts across USC and the best medical minds at Keck Medicine of USC. The event has served as a platform for product launches, high level networking, and it has received media coverage around the globe.  The USC BCC is well known for creating and cultivating ideas that turn into sustainable industry trends.

About the USC Center for Body Computing
Founded in 2006 by internationally-recognized physician visionary Dr. Leslie Saxon, the USC Center for Body Computing is a thought leader innovation hub designed to bring together digital and life sciences executives, sensor and mobile app investors, strategists, designers, investors and visionaries from healthcare, entertainment and technology to collaborate on transformative care solutions.  The Center is a leader in digital health clinical research and elite athletic performance studies. In collaboration with Keck Medicine of USC, the Center has the ability to conduct clinical trials and performance studies at its facilities that help define and guide member’s product development efforts. The future patient care models being developed at the Center will leverage technology along with physician expertise to bring disease treatment and management options to more people on demand at an affordable cost. In September the USC Center for Body Computing will hold its 11th Annual Global Body Computing conference at USC which draws thought leaders from all over the world. For more information visit:  uscbodycomputing.org

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SOURCE USC Center for Body Computing